Look in the Mirror

I think it is important to talk about the way we speak to ourselves! I have always had a hard time when I look in the mirror. Since I was a young girl, even elementary age I remember looking in the mirror and thinking negative things. Sometimes even bursting into tears at the sight of my big stomach or my thighs that rub together. I remember always wishing to have a flat tummy like so and so, or a space between my thighs like her, or arms that didn't bulge in every picture.
I learned somewhere that it is important to look in the mirror and instead of being negative about what I don't like, to be positive about what I do like. Like my long beautiful hair, or my thin legs. When I am about to say something mean to myself I try to remember to instead compliment myself. To say something positive about yourself isn't bragging or being egotistical... it is teaching yourself to have confidence in your strengths, and teaches you to work on your weaknesses.
We are all very hard on ourselves. Our own worst critics I would venture to say. I know that when I look at other people, I see beauty. I don't see perfection, but I see beauty and can think of many things to compliment them on. A person can sit and tell me how insignificant they are, or how unattractive they feel and I get a sick feeling in my stomach. I always wonder why they can't see the beauty in themselves that I so clearly see in them.
And then one day, I realized I was one of those people. I am plain mean to myself sometimes! We all see something when we look in the mirror, and I think more often than not, our reflection is a distorted picture of what our mind sees, not what our eyes see.
Remember the importance of speaking kindly to yourself. It is something that I think most of us learn to do, not something we naturally do. It is SOOOO important to me to train myself to think this way. I am so hopeful that as I get back in shape, and my confidence in myself grows I will be better at this, and better able to model for my daughter a healthy body image.
Beauty is not perfection, skinny isn't necessarily beautiful, what is truly beautiful is confidence in oneself; and the recognition that we are who we are, for a very important reason.